IBAMA will deny hydroelectric license of rio Tapajós, Pará

IBAMA will deny hydroelectric license of rio Tapajós, Pará

DIMMI AMORA BRASILIA 8/3/2016

The largest hydroelectric project in the country, the power plant of São Luiz do Tapajós, Pará, will have its environmental license denied by Ibama.Based on opinions of the AGU (Solicitor-General), Funai and Ibama, the Licensing Commission, which brings together all seven directors, decided to deny the license for understanding that in addition to flood indigenous land, which is forbidden, the project brings no solution to environmental problems that arose.Were not answered questions such as what would be the consequences for the fauna in a specific stretch of the river.Without the license, which was requested in 2009, it is impossible to start the project and even doing the bidding for the construction of the power plant.The Eletrobras, which is in charge of the project, could initiate a new process for licensing, but the reasons that led Ibama to deny the license hardly would be solved in a new attempt.Technically, only the President of the Agency, Suely Araújo, signed the document that denies the license. Araújo is part of the Committee that unanimously gave opinion contrary to the project.Questioned by the Leaf, the President of the Court reported that “will take its decision as soon as possible”.

ENERGYThe Eletrobras plans to build a series of dams on the rio Tapajós. The federal Government announced several times that I would do the bidding of this first venture, which has cost estimated at $ 18 billion.The plant would have the capacity to generate 8,000 MW, which equals about two-thirds of Belo Monte (PA), the largest hydroelectric plant under construction in the country.

Indigenous LandThe construction of the power plant in para alagaria the Sawré Muybu indigenous area, where live the Munduruku Indians.These Indians are since the start of fighting the project and, in recent years, won support of Ngos for an international campaign against the project.Earlier this year, Funai had already issued an opinion saying that license the plant would be unconstitutional.Ibama gave the opportunity to overview answer, and introduced State argument that the Earth is not approved and therefore it would be possible to remove the Indians from the flooding.This argument was not accepted. The technical opinion which supports archiving points out that, in addition to the indigenous problems, entrepreneurs have failed to present arguments to prove the environmental feasibility of the project.BELO MONTEThe construction of the power plant’s environmental predicament of Belo Monte still influenced the decision. To release the hydroelectric plant, the Ibama gave a license with hundreds of conditions that the builder had to fulfill before starting the operation.The main social restrictions of the license of the Belo Monte Dam have not been fully met, but even so the Ibama has released the power plant for operation.The Court accepted the argument that would not fulfill all the lack of conditions of the cities in the region to approve and receive books and other benefits.

SITUATION IN THE REGIONIn the document that denies the Tapajós, the Court States that one of the reasons not to license the plant is the lack of conditions in the region to receive it and that this obligation cannot be passed on to those who will build.“To avoid making public policies end up interfering with analysis of environmental licensing, it is essential the prior joint different spheres of governance (Union, State and municipalities) for tackling the chronic problems of social facilities in the region,” according to the statement from Ibama.